(i) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information input/output system, an information input/output method, a recording medium recording therein an information transmission/reception program, and an image forming apparatus for receiving various services from a user terminal through a communication network.
(ii) Description of the Related Art
It is now possible to receive various services such as printout or download of data through the internet. However, paper sizes of printed matters (for example, A4 size) or types of mediums (for example, a transparent sheet) are often limited, and detailed print conditions such as a number of print copies and a print speed cannot be arbitrarily designated in the prior art. Therefore, it has not been possible to cope with diverse demands from users, thereby being user-unfriendly.
Further, when trying to perform printing and the like in a service station equipped with, e.g., a dedicated high-performance printer, a user must have searched out such a service station by himself/herself, and specifying a service station has been very time-consuming.
On the other hand, a mobile communication terminal such as a cellular phone and a PHS (Personal Handy Phone) has become widespread in recent days, and information retrieval on the internet and the like or transmission/reception of mails by utilizing a mobile communication terminal has been carried out on a routine base.
Although it is possible to receive various services such as printout or download/upload of data by utilizing the mobile communication terminal, there has been no effective technique for searching out an optimum site for receiving such services.
In addition, in case of printing out a document or an image with the strict confidentiality, when a user instructs execution of printer operation in a remote environment, there has been a possibility that other people may see the printed document without permission, and thus the confidentiality cannot be maintained.
Moreover, when transmitting data to a service station from a mobile communication terminal through a communication network such as the internet, to execute printout or download, a user must have signed up with an internet provider or a mail service provider besides a contract with a service agency of the mobile communication terminal. This has lead to a problem that the cost burden is imposed on the user.
Further, Japanese patent application laid-open No. 78618-1998 proposes a print service system by which a digital image is transmitted through the internet and printed at a location designated by a user if the user does not have a printer. This system only deals with the digital image printout, and printout of documents or download/upload of data is not disclosed. Furthermore, the detailed settings of print conditions such as a number of print copies and a resolution are not taken under consideration.
Additionally, Japanese patent application laid-open No. 27429-1999 discloses a communication control apparatus which transmits to a network a BILL command for downloading the fee information based upon a command to output network utilization fee information and controls printout of the downloaded fee information. This apparatus only covers printout of electronic information and does not deal with download/upload of data.
Moreover, Japanese patent application laid-open No. 222527-1998 discloses a technique that a terminal user transmits retrieval information to a service center and the service center compiles a list of candidate destinations for the retrieval data and transmits it to the terminal user so that the terminal user selects a destination from the list. Since the user must select from the list by himself/herself, there is no guarantee that an appropriate destination can be selected.
In addition, Japanese patent application laid-open No. 161583-1999 discloses an e-mail communication apparatus for reading connection information stored in a mail server access ID card to transmit/receive e-mail information in accordance with this connection information. This apparatus can transmit/receive e-mails to/from a public telephone, but the use of this apparatus in the mobile environment is left out of consideration.
Besides, although a service for transmitting the e-mail received through a mobile phone by FAX or a radio information exchange system complying with the standard of Bluetooth is proposed, the former takes only FAX transmissions into consideration, and the latter can only execute communications in a narrow range.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an information input/output system capable of selecting an optimum service station in accordance with diverse service demands.
To achieve this aim, the present invention provides an information input/output system for transmitting/receiving information through a communication network between at least one user terminal, at least one service station for providing various services, and at least one service center for respectively managing the service station,
the service center comprising:
candidate selecting means for selecting candidates for the service station capable of providing a service according to the content of a request from the user terminal;
candidate transmitting means for transmitting the selected candidates for the service station to the user terminal;
request transmitting means for transmitting a request of the user terminal to the service station selected by the user terminal from the candidates for the service station; and
positional information transmitting means for transmitting information concerning a position of the service station selected by the user terminal to the user terminal,
the user terminal comprising:
service requesting means for requesting a service to the service center;
station selecting means for selecting one of the candidates for the service station transmitted from the service station;
selection result transmitting means for transmitting a type of the selected service station to the service center; and
positional information displaying/outputting means for displaying or outputting information concerning a position of the service station transmitted from the service center.
According to the present invention, since an optimum service station can be selected by a simple procedure in accordance with a service request from the user terminal, it is possible to precisely meet diverse service requests of the user.
In addition, since direction information of the way to a finally selected service station is displayed on the user terminal, the user can get to the service station without going astray even if the user has never reached that service station.